The present invention relates to an eyeglass lens processing system for grinding a peripheral edge of a subject lens.
Conventionally, in a case where the peripheral edge of a subject lens is ground, processing is performed after a cup serving as a processing jig (a flared suction cup or the like) is attached to the optical center of the lens. A primary purpose of using the cup is to fix the lens so that the lens will not move due to the load applied from a grinding wheel during processing. The followings are other purposes.
When a monofocal lens is processed, a marked point is preliminarily applied to the optical center of the lens by using a lens meter, and the cup is attached to the lens through a cup attaching device, i.e., a so-called aligner, with that marked point used as a reference mark. Subsequently, a cup portion is mounted on a cup holder of a lens chuck shaft provided in a processing apparatus, and the lens is chucked to perform processing. As a result, the processing apparatus is able to effect processing while managing the relationship between the rotational center of the lens and the optical center thereof.
In contrast, to attach the lens directly to the processing apparatus without using the cup, it is necessary to attach the lens by aligning the marked point on the lens and the center of the lens chuck shaft, and it is extremely difficult to enable it in the light of the structure of the apparatus.
In recent years, processing centers have been established where the lens processing which has been conventionally performed by optical shops is performed intensively. The processing centers have come to perform large volumes of lens processing in a concentrated manner in response to requests from optical shops. In such processing centers, there has been a demand for automation of processing so as to effect processing efficiently by saving the trouble of the operator as much as possible.
However, as mentioned above, the lens processing requires, the above-described cup attaching operation as a preliminary step before the processing and the cup removing operation as a subsequent step after the processing, which has been a difficult factor in realizing the automation of processing. In addition, since these operations have been performed manually by the operator, the operating efficiency has been poor.
In view of the above-described problems of the conventional art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a processing system which makes it possible to effect processing while managing the relationship between the rotational center and the optical center (and the angle of the cylinder axis) of the lens during processing without using the cup as a processing jig.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided:
An eyeglass lens processing system including:
a data input unit, which inputs frame shape data for processing a lens to be fitted to an eyeglass frame, and layout data for providing a layout of the lens with respect to a frame shape;
a lens processing unit, having two shafts for clamping the lens, the processing unit rotates the shafts synchronously for grinding a periphery of the lens, at least one of the shafts has an end to which is provided a holding portion for holding the lens by directly contacting the lens surface without a cup as a processing jig;
a first conveying unit, that conveys a tray on which the lens is placed and to which a management code is applied, the management code interrelating the lens placed on the tray to the data inputted by the data input unit;
a lens measuring unit, which measures at least an optical center position of the lens by detecting and processing an image of a measurement index;
a second conveying unit having a hand part for holding the lens and a moving unit for moving the hand part, wherein the second conveying unit picks and holds the lens from the tray using the hand part, disposes the lens at a predetermined position of the lens measuring unit, and mounts the lens to at least one of the shafts of the lens processing unit after measurement by the lens measuring unit; and
an arithmetic unit, which obtains processing data based on the management code applied to the tray from the data inputted by the data input unit.
The present disclosure relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese patent application No. Hei 10-275031 (filed Sep. 29, 1998).